The awards keep piling up for "Being
Julia" star Annette Bening, and "Extra"
sat down with the star for an exclusive interview at
the Santa Barbara Film Festival, where she picked up
yet another honor for her acting achievements.

"It's so exciting," Bening insisted. "Part
of it is ego gratifying, you just say, 'Oh it's me.'"

Still basking in the glow of her Golden Globe win and
her third Academy Award nomination, Bening told us,
"I was really excited. My husband told me, I kissed
my husband. That's a pretty nice thing to be able to
do."

Bening snagged notorious Hollywood bachelor Warren Beatty
after they met filming "Bugsy," and nearly
13 years later, they have four children, and Bening
says life couldn't be sweeter. "If things are going
well and people like a film, you're getting attention,
and it makes me in a way appreciate my life with my
family more because that's so grounding and that is
constant."

The 46-year-old beauty is aging gracefully in Hollywood,
and unlike some 40-plus actresses, Bening says she doesn't
feel she has to compete with younger starlets: "I'm
lucky people are asking me to do things that really
interest me, and a whole variety of things."

And you can tune in February 27th to the Academy Awards
to see if "Being Julia" is as lucky.